Comedy of errors

[Little_Flatty]

We often hear a lot about the trips that go right, so I thought I would report this morning on a trip that went completely wrong, starting long before I even left for the water!

The night before, the plan was hatched to leave my local waters in the morning and head to Rushcutters bay to get some flatties for a NYE dinner. A mate messages the night before telling me that he was heading to Palm Beach to get some whiting. I told him I'm going to Rushcutters and did he want to come do that instead with me. He tells me that it is probably closed off due to the fireworks. Ah, good tip. Still, decide against the beach as I wouldn't be back until lunchtime after all of the travel time.

OK. Change of plans. What do I feel like doing next? Why not head back to an old favourite, Iron Cove? Getting my gear ready, I discover that the Sedona has a seized bail roller. Great.  So instead, I pack my 4lb outfit into the car, rigged with a 3lb leader. Always enjoy a bit of silly string action.

But before I can get out on the water, I have TERRIBLE nights sleep. First of all, I couldn't get the kids to bed until 11pm, then have bits and bobs to do around the house until 11:45pm. So no surprises that I sleep through my 5am alarm and wake up with the sun shining and birds chirping at 5:45am. 

Somehow I snap myself out of my stupor and get down to Iron Cove. Aaaah, how I've missed the place. Think I haven't fished here for about a year. The tide was high and water looked great. First cast, get a good hit, but miss it. Then halfway through working back from my second cast, I notice something small and black crawling on my foot. Try to flick it off and it BITES me on the foot! Suspect it was an ant bite, and it hurt like nothing else. For a moment I thought my session was over, but I somehow regained my composure and continued plugging on.

Get a few more hits, then my lure comes back missing half its body. Replace it, then next cast, in between hops, my whole lure goes missing! Damn tailor. Re-rig and then start casting again. Good hit, and then get snagged.

Ok, let's tie a hardbody on and throw that around. If the tailor are still there, at least I'll get one up to have a look at. First cast, lure fouls up on the floating rubbish in the water. Next cast, wind knot.

This comedy of errors continues for the best part of an hour. Somehow I lose about five lures to snags and change lures about 10 times for reasons unknown (which is really not like me). My most notable snag was hooking onto a fallen tree on the waterside. I got annoyed this time, so I clamber down the rock wall, pull the WHOLE TREE out of the water and release my lure. Of course, my trees are catch and release too - why waste a good snag like that?  

Just before my go-home alarm goes off, I come up tight on a small flatty:

Think things are starting to look up? No. Flatty falls in between the rocks in the rock wall. Some rock wall yoga later, I was able to successfully release him.

10mins of 'last casts' and then I get snagged, losing my sixth lure. Time to head home. The fish were there - there were plenty of hits - but somehow this morning I just couldn't connect with them. Just one of them days. At least I got on the board.

I really wished I went to the beach with my mate instead, but it just wasn't worth stretching my luck with the family. Get home, everyone is still asleep. Then my eldest comes out and tells me that she has wet the bed. Strip down her bed, sheets in the washing machine and then make a much-needed coffee.

Disappointing as it was, I thought it quite fitting to have a shocker of a session to finish off the year, after the 2021 we have all had. Wishing everyone a better 2022, fishing-wise and in all other aspects of life!

[Mike Sydney]

Oh mate what can you even say. At least the flathead didn’t spike you…? 
🤣

[Mike Sydney]

Though your mate was probably right about the fireworks. I couldn’t enter Lavender Bay even on foot last night. The whole place was littered with guards and threats of $1000 fine for breaching the cordon. 

[Rebel]

Great story.

Use weedless hooks ?

There are better days ahead.

Cheers.

[Green Hornet]

Yep, we all have days like that occasionally. At least you didn't come home broken and bleeding.

Sounds to me like you could do with getting yourself a lure retriever. Although they're really designed to work from a boat, I have saved countless hardbodies from snags when walking the creek banks chasing black bream and bass. 

These are the two I have and are attached to a short spool of bricklayers string. The one with the chains is the most successful and quite often bumps the lure off the snag when it slides down the line and hits it.

Land based, they only work when the lure is snagged within about 10 metres from the shore.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Green Hornet
Pic added

[big Neil]

I love those real life stories of how a day ACTUALLY was, instead of how it was expected to be. With the benefit of hindsight, some days we should stay in bed. Anglers, on the other hand, would never get anything if they did that. Let's hope next year starts better. bn

[Yowie]

One of those shite days where you should have kept sleeping and woken up at lunchtime. 

[Pickles]

Bummer mate- we’ve all had those days- “some days your the dog and some days your the hydrant”- the God who made the fish still loves you. It’s always good to get out on the water, every “failure” is a learning experience. I don’t know about you, but I learn more from my failures than my successes.

2022 holds many mor learning experiences for us all

[bessell1955]

What was it that bit you ?